Carly Fiorina's Friendly Fire

Carly Fiorina has become my favorite surrogate for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. You never know what's going to come out of her mouth.

As Dana Millbank sketched in July, the former Hewlett-Packard chief volunteered in a discussion about health insurance: "There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth-control medication -- those women would like a choice." And then she repeated, "Those women would like a choice." Oh, the hilarity that ensued. Asked to respond, McCain delivered one of his more memorable reactions: An 8-second, silent, open-mouthed search of the heavens for an answer. He settled on, "I don't know enough about it to give you an informed answer."

Yesterday brought more Fiorina straight talk.

In an interview on MSNBC (the clip in question starts around the 1:07 mark), Andrea Mitchell asked Fiorina to explain her comment to a radio show earlier in the day that McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, doesn't have the experience to run a major corporation. "Well, I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation," Fiorina told Mitchell. "I don't think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don't think Joe Biden could run a major corporation." Considering that Fiorina was run out of the top spot at Hewlett-Packard in 2005 for what many saw as an ill-advised 2002 merger with Compaq, this is certainly a pot-kettle moment. But still, ouch!

Sure, as Fiorina acknowledged to Mitchell, running a major corporation and being leader of the free world require two different skill sets. But if she doesn't have confidence that McCain could run a major corporation, why on earth should voters entrust him with an enterprise that has a bigger budget, larger responsibilities and billions of lives at stake? Voters will make their judgment in 48 days. In the meantime, I can't wait for Fiorina's next rhetorical stink bomb. I just know it's coming.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m.: Well, looks like I'm going to have to wait a while for Fiorina's next slip-up. It appears the McCain campaign has put her on lockdown.

According to the last poster, what she said was no big deal. If not, why did McCain force her to cancel her upcoming interviews? Are you saying he is putting politics ahead of truth? What happened to "The Straight Talk Express"?

From CNN:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/16/fiorinas-comment-called-biden-like/

"This campaign source said Fiorina would be discouraged from additional media interviews.

Another top campaign adviser was far less diplomatic.

"Carly will now disappear," this source said. "Senator McCain was furious." Asked to define "disappear," this source said, adding that she would be off TV for a while - but remain at the Republican National Committee and keep her role as head of the party's joint fundraising committee with the McCain campaign.

Fiorina was booked for several TV interviews over the next few days, including one on CNN. Those interviews have been canceled.

Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."

It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list.

Let's see. Running a major corporation takes vision, leadership skills, decision making, communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity,strategic thinking ,among others. Aren't those the same ones we ought to have in a president or vice president? Which of those does Fiorina think Palin and McCain are lacking that they couldn't run a major corporation? If it's any of those I have listed, she is also saying they aren't able to be president or vice president. Nice job, Carly ! The Democrats couldn't have said it any better than you did !
It wasn't enough that this MAJOR advisor and surrogate for McCain was one of the very corporate CEO's who scored one of those multi-million dollar buyouts McCain is screaming about, now she steps in it again !

Well I have to give it up to Fiorina, being fired and walking away with millions...that's some skill set. However, what are the skill sets required to run a corporation as opposed to those needed as President? Seriously, it would be interesting to hear her thoughts on the dichotomy between those 2 skill sets. It is painfully obvious that she is hanging around in hopes that she can remain close to power should McCain be elected. She is transparent and completely self-serving. Fiorina’s “golden parachute” and its common practice in the financial sector is clearly contributory to the economic hardship we are currently facing. No tightening of the belt for Fiorina. I admit my naiveté – but I can’t wrap my head around this woman being a spokesperson for change, maverick behavior and a champion of the “common” person. Wealth is not an evil thing – after all, for many becoming wealthy is the American Dream. It is Fiorina’s conduct that is distasteful and arrogant. She can’t even maintain a modicum of public respect for the man whose influence and power she seeks. What a bottom feeder.

I'm enjoying the way leading members of the McCain team get publicly thrown under the bus (although they are still on the team behind the scenes) after committing the sin of going off-message. First Phil "Nation of Whiners" Gramm (who bears a lot of the responsibility for current economic problems). Then Carly "Major Corporation" Fiorina. Next came Douglas "Blackberry" Holtz-Eakin, who went from official top economic advisor to "a staffer making a bonehead joke." You have to sympathize with them; it's not easy to go out every day and put lipstick on a pg.

I've seen posts all day from Repubs saying the media is biased in not pointing out the Carly said the same about Obama/Biden. The point is, thus the news angle is, she works for McCain/Palin and says this about her OWN candidates. that she said it about the opponents is not the news story here. Got it?

What was really said, not your selective partisan view of what was said. The point was made that Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden do not have the skill set to head a major corporation.

Posted by: Ken Stephens
```````
Hello Ken. It is not surprising for a McCain surrogate to claim that their opponents could not run a corporation; it is news when that surrogate doesn't take the opportunity to claim something like this: "Unlike Obama & Biden, Senator McCain & Gov. Palin could run a major corporation."
Get you wingnut talking points straight,FREINDO

What is missing in all of this is that some of the readers did not see the original comment. Her original comment was just about Palin stating that Palin cannot run a major corporation like HP. Then, later Andrea Mitchell gave her a chance to explain and she extended the comment to Obama, McCain, and Biden.

The DNC should splice together videotape of all the Nancy Pfotenhauer TV segments and then mail the video tape to all the evangelical churches in all the southern states. If the social conservatives sat through 30 minutes of pfotenhauer and understood she is a key McCain campaign/lobbyist/staffer I'm sure they would have second thoughts about voting for McCain.

Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/cynicism-of-mccains-vp-choice.html

Monday, September 15, 2008
The Cynicism of John McCain and his VP Choice

If you read Jeffrey Goldberg's excellent piece on McCain in the new Atlantic, one fact stands out clearly. McCain's stance on the war is inviolate--it involves what for him are principles of honor that stretch back immediately and directly to his own experiences in the Vietnam war, and to those of his father in World War II. Just one example of many in the first-rate article:

"I told Swindle [a cellmate and friend of McCain's] that McCain had argued to me that he doesn’t think about Vietnam overly much when he thinks about the wars of today.

“'Bulls--t,' Swindle said. 'He’ll say Vietnam didn’t affect him, that he doesn’t think about it, that he’s aloof from it. But I see it. It’s there.'”

This is the issue on which McCain is inflexible, certain, fully invested, passionate.

It is equally clear that as a result, he views all other issues as malleable, political issues--stances that can be easily taken, and easily changed, tactically-- in order to win a campaign and thus deal with the issue that, to him, matters.

This is utterly clear in his choice of Palin, where his Vietnam-and-since cynicism about political necessities is manifest--one of feeding the bread and circuses desire of the electorate, giving them, so easily fooled, as they were so easily fooled by the media in Vietnam, what they need, in order to be able to deal with the important issue.

The choice of a remarkably unqualified Vice Presidential choice is simply a political necessity. The attitude towards the public, and the media, in this choice, as in many of the public representations and statements of his campaign, is one of an extraordinary, world-weary, cynicism: Feed the beast with whatever fantasies and half-truths it takes. The fundamentals of the economy are sound. We'll take care of it later.

Goldberg:

"In my conversations with McCain, however, he never appeared greatly troubled by his shifts and reversals. It’s not difficult to understand why: tax policy, or health care, or even off-shore oil drilling are for him all matters of mere politics, and politics calls for ideological plasticity. It is only in the realm of national defense, and of American honor—two notions that for McCain are thoroughly entwined—that he becomes truly unbending."

This is no doubt rooted in McCain's eternal certainties, drummed in by three generations of such certainty. And there is no doubt strength and decency--as well as these "family values"--that drive this commitment to an ideological core.

The question is this: Do we need another president with such a core of ideological inflexibility, rigidity and unwillingness for self-reflection, linked to a long past conflict--and who is willing to resort to half-truths, deceptions, and distortions in its service?

Cite:
Head of State
http://headofstate.blogspot.com/2008/09/cynicism-of-mccains-vp-choice.html

Fiorina sounds like Reynard the fox in the fable. Sour grapes that she wasn't tapped for the #2 on the ticket. With friends like her who needs enemies. No wonder McCain has been trying to keep them under wraps from the media. It may not be Obama that sinks him but his own mouth and his asinine surrogates.

Her job is not to be factually correct, or even to posit her own personal opinions. It's to be on-message, and she failed horribly. And it's easy to understand why. The idea of having to admit that Sarah Palin could be her equal in running HP was too much for her ego to bear, so she had to say what she did. Then she dug her own grave by then saying that John McCain couldn't do what she did either. The story is about her hubris and how it took her severely off-message. The mid-level talking heads on the news programs could have done a much better job than that.

And Carly couldn't run HP either. Did you stop to think if the Republicans had been successful a few years ago at privatizing social security that could be your social security going down the toilet this week. Republicans are the party of deregulation and less oversight, and the forces of the market will police themselves. One more time, we have paid an expensive price to see that philosophy does not work.

Fiorina is the idiot McLame wants to put in charge of the economy, along with "Americans are whiners" Gramm. Tells you a lot about his judgement. If he gets elected better get ready to bend over and grab your ankles.

Ken Stevens-
That's a hell of an indictment. The US government is essentially the biggest employer in the nation, with more assets to manage and a much bigger budget than HP.
Add things like foreign policy, disaster management and running the military and the job is far more difficult than running a corporation.
Carly Fiorina doesn't think McCain or Palin are up to the job?
It's one thing to try and paint your opponent as incompetent, but paint the people you support that way?
Which brings up another point - what kind of self aggrandizing business and governmental failures is McCain surrounding himself with? Between Phil Gramm, Carly Fiorina, and Sarah Palin, I have to seriously question his judgement.

I see that the libtards who post here, and those who write propaganda for the Washington Compost, continue to selectively decide what to jump on. It's says right there in the article, plain as day, that Fiorina feels that NONE OF THE CANDIDATES FROM EITHER PARTY has the experience to run a major company yet Obama sycophants and the the Washington Compost (redundant) only see: Palin lacks experience to run a company. You people are pathetic.

I'd like to ask Carly in what way shape or form is she qualified to advise McCain on economic issues when she was fired from HP for incompetence and decision making. If Kenneth Lay of Enron was still around I bet he would be on his list of advisors as well. Phil Gramm of all people was advising him up until few months when he put his foot in his mouth....both of them I think.

Carly Firoina nearly killed HP. HP's stock only recovered on the news that they fired her. Honestly, McCain should have ditched her as an economic adviser a long time ago, because she doesn't know anything.

The fact that he chose her to begin with shows a lot about McCain's poor judgment in surrogates. McCain cares more about getting elected than he cares about this country.

"Did you stop to think if the Republicans had been successful a few years ago at privatizing social security that could be your social security going down the toilet this week."

Exactamundo. THIS has to be a big-buy ad, preceded by McCain's "Social Security is a disaster" comment. Then, Barack says, "If George Bush and John McCain had had their way, your Social Security would have been invested in Wall Street. Now THAT would have been a disaster."

Posted by: And a pit bull would have made a better Vice President, too. That's TWO things. | September 17, 2008 4:24 PM
| Report abuse

Fiorina first busted Lucent and when there was nothing left she almost busted HP. Fortunately she was caught up with and kicked out. With that background in executive finance she is now advising Mccain. How becoming that an economically ignorant candidate and an established loser have joined farce. This combo is good for a retirement home.

"I see that the libtards who post here,"
We see you too, Frank. Nice of you to join us,
"It's says right there in the article, plain as day, that Fiorina feels that NONE OF THE CANDIDATES FROM EITHER PARTY "
That's what the other poster have been discussing. You can release that RNC talking point about "Defend Palin at all costs", she's already cratered under the weight of all those scandals that followed her out of the great white north.
Other than that, Frank, how have you been? Did you read the financial news yet? If not, don't. I don't think your heart could take it when you find out you've been a socialist all these years.

As anyone who has been president can tell you, being president is a cakewalk. What Fiorina did--running a major corporation into the dirt--takes real skill. Sarah Palin may not be qualified to make important decisions on mergers and the like, but certainly she's qualified to deal with a no-brainer like U.S. foreign policy.

Failed incompetent CEO's like Carly Fiorina and their "golden parachute" severance packages are at the root of the current economic disasters. I believe this fact should be discussed more than Ms. Fiorina's ego driven opinions.

When will John McCain get rid of all the elitist no-nothing advisors/lobbyists surrounding him giving him bad advice and just start asking Sarah for advice. He's starting to make her look bad and she's not happy. Sheez -- why can't can't he stick to the script like she does? You don't hear her changing her story about th eBridge to Nowhere. He's acting like it's all about him. Maybe he ought to just step aside and cede the top of the ticket to her. I'm sure Sarah will know what to do.

Hmmm....maybe if in some hypothetical parallel universe McCain or Palin were to be put in charge of running a major corporation, and what's more, one that is in deep financial straights, it could very well turn out that they would fail (or fail miserably) due to the lack of experience that Carly alludes to. Nevertheless.....Carly(!!!!!) your comments are certainly not becoming of an 'advisor'. Seh hello.....

Johnathan Capehart ... why don't you use your skill sets as a newsman to stop writing slanted stories that belie your bias toward Obama ... if you have to use half-truths to promote you candidate ...what does that say about him?
McCain-Palin '08
Hillary 2012!!

Just forget for a moment that she misled people into believing that McCain would favor forcing insurance companies to do anything, let alone pay money for contraceptives.

Consider this: She is arguing that running a company is HARDER than being president.

It takes some major guts to say that an not dissolve into laughter or tears.

First off, CEOs are accountable to few people -- the shareholders, the board and few others. And even then, shareholders these days are regularly ignored and its easy for a CEO to stack the board with cronies and yes-men.
A president, at least as the Constitution provides, is the employee of 300 million, and held accountable by a Congress that may be openly hostile and to a judiciary which cannot be fired.

Secondly, the president controls nuclear bombs. No corporation that I'm aware of, has a lot of those.

Fiorina, shot her mouth off. And she thought people would swallow it. Perhaps the question ought to be: Is she experienced enough to be an effective politician?

Carly Fiorina, fired CEO, doesn't think Sarah Palin or John McCain can run a major business like HP. That's what she said. She's an advisor to McCain/Palin and she doesn't think either one of them is capable of being a CEO. That's what she said. Period, dot, end of story. Can't spin that into oblivion.

Warren Buffett said that he'd hire Barack Obama to run a business. He's not an advisor to a campaign, but he sure as hell knows what it takes to run a major corporation.

McCain/Palin? Thanks but no thanks.

By the way, the reason Fiorina thinks McCain and Palin can't run a business is that the two of them are blockheads. 2 from the bottom of his USNA class, she with a degree in Journalism at University of Idaho after bouncing around 4 other institutions. Not saying everyone with their educational background is stupid, but neither has done anything since to indicate they intelligent.

Winston Churchill was an awful student. Really bad: Stayed in the lowest form at his boarding school, three tries to get into Sandhurst, and almost expelled from there. But, when he got into the Army, he read voraciously, and became a self-educated man. He was smart and proved it.

Let's take a current example of a poor student, George Dumbya Bush. How's electing a dumba$$ to be President working out? You all happy with that?

When Carly Fiorina ran HP, she outsourced a lot of jobs, telling the people as they left, ‘NO JOBS ARE AMERICANS' GOD-GIVEN RIGHT ANYMORE’ (direct quote). She also had a golden parachute that equaled over $40 milllion dollars when the board fired her. And bought another corporate jet instead of giving employees raises.

Phil Gramm wrote much of the deregulation policy that helped get the US in the financial toilet that it is today. He also authored McCain’s current economic plan.

I happen to believe that Americans are smart. Smart enough to know that McCain will worsen the economic gap between haves and have nots.

McCain is literally giving us more of the same as these folks represent what is wrong with the economy.

So, let’s keep talking about the real issues like these. I wish the republicans and the corporate media would quit bringing up Palin as a smoke screen.

In the military I was taught (for 20 years)that "leadership is the art of influencing people to accomplish a goal or mission", and that leadership has a subset of traits. The most important: interpersonal skills, vision, and either training, or surrounding yourself with competent people. Common sense and flexibility helps, as well as a focused committment to the task. Johnny Mac was an infantry flyer who never commanded or supervised a thing. What he lacks (I liked him 4-8 yrs ago)in knowledge and leadership he did not pick up with Sarah Palin. Johnny Vet has sold out and become part, a full tool of the establishment; he sold out to the Christian (hypocritical)Right and tried to play, pander, and pimp votes from woman. All thats left is a sleaze campaign that is painful to watch from a man I once respected. It's tuff to watch him speak, almost like G Dub.I guess if its your last hurrah you might as well go out with your guns blazin...

Republicans seem to have a things for failed businessmen/women for President. Bush ran everything he touched into the ground before be became President and ran the country into the same pit. Now they want to provide us with additional leadership to take things even further. But, hey, give McCain a break. After all, he spent 5-1/2 years without a house, or kitchen table or even a table or a business, so he's to be excused for not having a clue about the economy. And Sarah, why she'll save us. I'm sure see can see a Wal-Mart from her house, which makes her just as much an expert on the economy and she is on foreign policy.

Let's see. Running a major corporation takes vision, leadership skills, decision making, communication and interpersonal skills, the ability to deal with ambiguity,strategic thinking ,among others. Aren't those the same ones we ought to have in a president or vice president? Which of those does Fiorina think Palin and McCain are lacking that they couldn't run a major corporation?
_________

I don't know but they are the SAME ones she thinks Obama and Biden are lacking to.
Bottomline I guess Carly doesn't think running a government and a company is the same thing.. if she did she probably would have supported Mitt Romney. But if you think her opinon matters all that is important is who she things would be the better President.. and for that she thinks it's McCain

GOP REPUBLICAN Congress resisted tougher regulation and permitted WALL STREET to run out of control and obscenely high LEVERAGE (OBSCENELY HIGH BORROWED MONEY) RATIOS perpetrating intentional fraud against the American People.

GOP REPUBLICAN WALL STREET leaders intentionally deceived customers and lenders into taking hazardous risks for short-term rewards regardless of the long-term dangers to the American People.

Mortgages went bad. The powerful high leverage went into reverse. Losses eroded firms' capital bases and raised doubts about their survival.

Financial firms took major stupid and wasteful risks that severely damaged the American Economy and impeded economic recovery.

GOP REPUBLICAN STOCK MARKET $ TRILLION FRAUD has deepened consumers' pessimism, fear and reluctance to spend. There may be more failures of FINANCIAL FIRMS.

As soon as i heard her comments yesterday,(i am a 24/7 news junkie) i said "Buh Bye, Carly!" Of course with her $51 million golden handshake, I'm sure she'll be just fine. The 24,000 people laid off from Hewlett Packard yesterday, (ironic, no?) should be so lucky.

There is an easy explanation for Fiorina's opinion. In the world of the Republican party, the difference between running a major corporation and running the United States is that if you are running a major corporation, you have to pay attention to the bottom line. If you are a Republican Presidant of the United States, there is no math on the test. You can spend a billion here and a billion there and still lower taxes on the rich.

Here's the thing I don't get about the Obama campaign. He says he is for post partisan politics but he hasn't even got his own supporters to buy into the argument. How is he ever going to get people who don't like him to buy into it when the people who worship him don't follow his own ideas. Now I know some republicans are vicious but some of Obama's supporters are just as bad as seen on many blogs.

I love the idea of being less partisan but I don't know if Obama can do it. It seems to me McCain might be better at it considering he has shown he is willing to work with the other side many times over. Obama wouldn't even join McCain in the gang of 14.

It is obvious Fiorina can not run a campaign, so she has joined the line of unemployed!

On the other side:THE MCCAIN/PALIN TICKET HAS GIVEN HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA TO ALL THE 18 MILLION FORMER HILLARY SUPPORTERS who now have a very compelling reason to vote for the republican ticket, as a way to put their country first by electing a president that has the qualifications, experience and love for our country and at the same time elect a woman to the White House as equal partners in governance and leadership of our country.
Country First!
DEMOCRATS FOR MCCAIN/PALIN!

It is obvious Fiorina can not run a campaign, so she has joined the line of unemployed!

On the other side:THE MCCAIN/PALIN TICKET HAS GIVEN HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA TO ALL THE 18 MILLION FORMER HILLARY SUPPORTERS who now have a very compelling reason to vote for the republican ticket, as a way to put their country first by electing a president that has the qualifications, experience and love for our country and at the same time elect a woman to the White House as equal partners in governance and leadership of our country.
Country First!
DEMOCRATS FOR MCCAIN/PALIN!

One has to wonder, by virtue of what comes out of Fiorina's mouth, how she got to lead HP in the first place. Quite noteworthy is that the Republican leadership has one thing, if noting else, in common. When they open their collective mouths, irrational, insane, belicose, surreal, flip flopping noises escape.

One has to wonder, by virtue of what comes out of Fiorina's mouth, how she got to lead HP in the first place. Quite noteworthy is that the Republican leadership has one thing, if noting else, in common. When they open their collective mouths, irrational, insane, belicose, surreal, flip flopping noises escape.

One has to wonder, by virtue of what comes out of Fiorina's mouth, how she got to lead HP in the first place. Quite noteworthy is that the Republican leadership has one thing, if noting else, in common. When they open their collective mouths, irrational, insane, belicose, surreal, flip flopping noises escape.

You are confused, Hillary Clinton's supporters supported Senator Clinton for the presidency because they believed she was the best candidate. They celebrated the fact that she is a woman. You do not give them enough credit.

Jonathan,
Relax.
Ignore the ignorants who haunt these comment forums.
With the side show these clowns are putting on, this shouldn't take long.
Even as everybody complains that Barack Obama doesn't "show" enough passion, but continues to drone on about the serious state of America's economic situation, the normal buddies of McCain step in, their houses of cards collapsing -- Fannie & Freddie -- Bear/Sterns -- Merrill Lynch having to be sold -- AIG -- and they put the exclamation point on Obama's "boring" but salient remarks, because he is focusing on the REAL problems affecting REAL people.
And REAL people have truly have ENOUGH!!!
With the expenses caused by the latest series of storms loading our credit cards, as the threat of a credit crunch looms, suddenly the wallet in the pocket is pinching from getting picked too frequently by all these massive corporate welfare schemes.
ENOUGH of this corporate welfare at OUR expense.
Vote Obama/Biden for a serious application of good ole American common sense!
Vote the clowns OUT.
They deserve to be retired NOW and hopefully NEVER to be seen again.

She spoke the truth. Only the liberal leaning media always try to spin it to make it sounds like She favored Obama which she didn't. The country lost a great opportunity because of the ideology on both sides to have Hillary, she'll be better positioned to handle the economy than any of the current candidates. Between McCain and Obama, I think McCain's policy will be better for the economy and he has the maverick character to do the right thing rather than the political correct thing to help this country, that's what we need in this time of crisis when the country need to come together. Obama/Biden is too partisan.

Yep, none of them could run major corporations. Umm, but wait, most of the bankers and financiers who are running major corporations don't seem to be able to do so either! And hey, how about Ms. Fiona herself, gee was she able to do so?

Ohmigosh!!! Maybe nobody is able to run a major corporation. Maybe we should get rid of major corporations!!!

(Anyone who takes the above seriously is clearly unfit to run a major corporation!)

But if she doesn't have confidence that Obama could run a major corporation, why on earth should voters entrust him with an enterprise that has a bigger budget, larger responsibilities and billions of lives at stake?

Sadly, Carli's comments probably reflect more on her image of herself than on McCain... a bloated sense of her own place (he should be president, but oh Lord... not CEO), enough to cause her to think of herself ahead of her current boss... the man running for the most powerful and complex position on the planet.

However, despite her motivations for saying so I agree with her. I don't think John McCain, Sarah Palin or Joe Biden are great candidates to run an enormous corporation.

Of the candidates (and this is not "partisan", it is simply observation), the one who's background, education and ability to communicate well would probably have landed him in the corner office... is Obama.

Here's the bottom line. We are in financial devastation! All these distractions don't take away the fact that the Republicans actually think that they can run John McCain R - Arizona for president and expect a whole new game. Here are the facts. Putting John McCain in office means that all the players who brought us this devastation will stay in place and will continue to run this country in the ground. The biggest disappointment to me as a Republican is that John McCain chose the same people who almost destroyed him in 2000 as his campaign staff. For this I will never vote for him, nor will I ever believe a word he says! Ever. Dishonerable!!!!!!

While it is obvious that this writer, like most at the Post, are shills for the Democratic Party, it will be interesting if he (they) comment on the stealing of Plain's private emails. But then why would he/they about ONLY Palin's private emails got stolen and not Obama's?

What we do and will hear is how she is not transparent because she tries to keep her private business private, even as Obama's campaign is willing to use illegally gathered private information to contunie their vicious personal attacks. I guess "only Republicans lie and cheat".

First of all, Fiorina said only that sarah aplin counld not run a corporation. Period. Only later, when she probably got an earful, did she tell Andrea Mitchell that all four candidates couldn't run one. Kinda like Ol's johnboy telling a rally yesterday morning that the economy is fundamentally strong. After someone showed him the newspaoers, in the afternnon he said he meant the American workers are fundamentally strong. Plain old repub CYA.
BTW, I believe Obama could run a a large corporation. Look at his nationwode campaign. He has built a large conglamerate of workers in less than two years, raised well over $100 million which is contributing to the economy though advertising, telecommunications, taxes, and gotten the country to recognize a new product that is now known internationally. That product should be the No. 1 seller by Nov. Sounds like he'd make a pretty good CEO to me.

This is insulting to the intelligence of Americans. Fiorina has said continuously that Obama's plan to increase capital gains tax will be so destructive for all those with 401K plans. It will ruin their retirements. Last I checked, no capital gains tax is paid on 401K's. It is taxed when withdrawn at ordinary income rates. Either she is lying just to have a talking point or is terribly misguided. Either way, I've been so disappointed that those interviewing her haven't called her on this lie.

When a significant hurricane is imminent, the number one reason residents give when asked why they are not evacuating is their faith that God will take care of them (like wind and rising water don't matter). Palin supports teaching intelligent design alongside the scientific theory of evolution in schools. How confusing for young minds! We have students believing that God created people in his own image when all the evidence points to our evolving from apes. The older generation may have been hoodwinked into believing the unproven fantasy of creationism, but today's generation can find out the truth in 20 minutes (by properly researching on the internet). It's time for religious leaders to give up the hoax and to stop corrupting the next generation. It is frightening to think that someone (Palin), who does not make a distinction between fantasy and reality, could be elected to any position in our government. Wake up, America!

By the way, I think Obama could run a corporation -he would be an above-the-average CEO-, I mean, if he hadn't chosen to enter into politics. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics, said in an interview that Obama is one of the greatest mind he has met in all his life.

McCain surely not. Biden probably neither. Palin, I suspend my judgement, but she is surely good in marketing.

"What was really said, not your selective partisan view of what was said. The point was made that Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden do not have the skill set to head a major corporation.

Posted by: Ken Stephens | September 17, 2008 2:55 PM"

Actually no. She said only Palin on a radio show. Asked about it later as MSNBC, she went on about no one having the skill as a way to muddy up the truth she had inadvertently spouted. It is a shame, but in the Republican Party, if you don't spout propaganda, you are put in the dog house. I mean, its a sorry state for the party. And its a sorry state in America to see the lying that is going on and the covering up and the hate that is being fomented by these people.

I think Carly, being from the business world, is still used to thinking and speaking in truths, not in tongues.

May Americans truly come to the realization that propaganda is not the way to run a campaign or a country.

WHO CARES WHAT CARLY FIORINA SAYS. SERIOUSLY. No one even knew who she was before the RNC. Awesome that she in fact called out Sarah Palin, but honestly I could care less what that washed up hag has to say.

HOWEVER- has anyone made ol' Carly aware of the fact that Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house? That EASILY qualifies her not only to run a major corporation, but also the country.

Regards,
The Democratic "libtard" Warrior

Love that name by the way, keep em coming. I get tired of using The Democratic Warrior every time. Someone called me a bone-smoker the other day, I rather enjoyed that one as well.

CEO or any other for that matter, i don't care,,,,,,all i know the last thing in our mind is buying her look a like eye glasses, give me a break! people are loosing their jobs, savings, homes.......... like if i need her eye glasses to go on a moose hunting rampage, once for all, let's be serious about our lives, because there will be no point of return once the damage is done, at least not for four more years!!!!!!!

Don't make fun of Carly Fiorina just because she shipped jobs overseas then did a merger with Compaq that had the families of Hewlett and Packard up in arms. But she undercut them with the voting shares. Then she ran the company into the ground, and got out with a golden parachute that could have kept the workers she laid-off employed for 5 years.

What depths has American business sunk to. See it on Wall Street, where stocks are just paper people play games with and has nothing whatsoever to do with the underlined companies. And these are the people shrieking about "free market capitalism". Right. See how well they do as Americans are selling their stocks daily and putting the funds in cash and now gold. The entire system has been subverted by people playing games with paper and totally disrespecting the common shareholders without connections. Hey, didn't W sell all his shares in his oil company just before a major announcement that crashed the stock. Probably just coincidence.

The end of the "I got mine, screw you" era is closing. And we couldn't have had a better Fed Chairman (Greenspan) that set it up, a better President and President of Vice, and 2 Republican candidates that I wouldn't trust to wash and dry my car at the auto wash - by the time it got to me the interior seats would be missing, engine parts would be gone along with the steering wheel, and with a straight face they'd tell me the Democrats did it but they tried to stop it.

But I do like the breakfast cereal the Furina family has. That mush keeps one going on a cold day. I'll bet the Palin family chows down with it every winter morning looking at Russia.

So the entire economic fiber of the country is falling apart. Laugh at it.

Carly must be planning to run in 2012. She's trying to trash all others in hopes of ushering in another disaster presidency, and she will ride in to the rescue in 4 years. Just like she did for Lucent and HP. Watch for Mitt & Carly and the CEO ticket. (Let's hope not.)

The really interesting thing about all of this is that I don't see anyone actually arguing with her statement. Although it is true that a different skill set is required, I don't see anyone arguing that any of the candidates COULD actually run a corporation.

Just another example of how this election has devolved from a much-celebrated, hopeful one into a shameful exhibition of useless, soulless political maneuvering. I really don't even care who winds anymore, which is sad because a few months ago I was thrilled by the rhetoric of possibility. That's what happens, though, when more time and effort are spent on the election process than on the actual governance of the country.

Fiorina was first fired from Hewlett Packard, that should have told McCain something. Then, she told the whole world that McCain is unfit to be CEO, but fit to be POTUS!! Hee Hee. The joke's on McCain.

Beating the Republicans in November would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

By letting the banks do whatever they want, we now have a mess where we taxpayers are forking over billions (will it reach trillions). All because Bush/McCain favored deregulation. That was a code word for giving away my money to their banking friends.

I like to keep my money. Enough of the tax-and-spend Republicans who are bleeding us dry. We need Obama before the American economy collapse and all us workers are destroyed. Wait, Palin knows what to do - as mayor, she raised taxes, raised spending, created debt, hired a fat-cat lobbyist and got federal earmarks. No more!

We need to reduce our use of oil. All our enemies profit from our addiction to oil - Chavez in Venezuela, Putin in Russia, Iran - so what does McCain say? More oil. In other words, make our enemies richer. McCain has a lot of experience at hurting American national security. He is great at making the wrong decisions that make our country less safe. Is that what we need?

He supported and fought for the invasion of Iraq. Now the Iraqi govt is closer to Iran than us. Nice move, John. I want a prez who will defend America, not hand the keys over to Iran and Russia. McCain is lost on foreign policy issues. What a terrible track record he has.

On the subject of "why on earth should voters entrust (McCain) with an enterprise that has a bigger budget, larger responsibilities and billions of lives at stake", I have an additional comment.

When General Clark said flying a fighter jet and getting shot down does not qualify one to be commander-in-chief, he was of course right on, except that the McCain campaign, with the help of some media, made it to be some insulting statement. I will even add that, yes, we honor McCain's service and his behavior as a POW, but with all the buttons on the fighter jet's cockpit for anti-missile defense, that he could not push the right button to avoid getting shot down, what assurance do we have that if given the chance to fly the ship of the State, he can push the right buttons? Evidence for my doubts? Look, when he depends on the likes of Fiorina who could not run HP - she was fired after all, wasn't she - for economic advise, and even Fiorina said he could not run HP, what confidence do we have on him? You want more, read Krugman's blog to-day about his "our fundamentals are strong" statement compared to Hoover's.

After watching Fox's Hannity interview with Palin, every real journalist ought to be upset.
I think all Journalist need to go to school and be licensed. This has to be the worst year for the National Press whose only questions to Palin is about Tina Fey.

After the campaign is over the media jerks are going to question themselves at a roundtable, maybe at the National Press club and talk about how they were used and abused by Rick Davis and Karl Rove.
"Lipstick And Pigs Press Corps Conference"

Posted by: License and Back to School for Journalist | September 17, 2008 10:50 PM
| Report abuse

Another poster pointed out something that needs to be said again:

If the republicans had privatized social security back when Bush was harping on it every day, just where would your security be today? Will someone ask McPain about his view on privatizing SS today?

Carly Fiorina has evidently forgotten that while she was CEO of HP, the market value of the company fell by half and the Board asked her to leave. Evidently, she doesn't know what it takes to be a corporate CEO, either.

Capehart must have studied at an elite eastern university so he could stay away from reality like Obama. Does he have one person that he talks to that is not from the far left? Does he have any business women friends? Probably not.

Fortunately for him, he just has to change Fiorina's name to Rothschild to "write" his column for tomorrow. So why do persons like Capehart and Obama have such a problem with successful white women? In fact why does he have a problem relating to most white women? They are too uppity?

It is also interesting that none of the progressive (radical left) and liberal Democrats, bloggers and members of the media elite, make no mention that Obama received the 2nd, second, highest amount of money from one of the largest investment firms that just crashed. No mention that neither Obama and Biden made no effort, to correct this system during their time in the Senate. No wonder that the Democrats did nothing in the past two years in the House, under Pelosi, or in the Senate, under Reid, to address this problem, when it was obvious that the subprime mess was about to implode. Oh, I forgot, Democrats received most of the campaign and lobbying funds from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the banks and investment houses in the same two years.

This post is seriously misguided. What do you think would happen to Hewlett-Packard's stock if it were to make any of Obama, Biden, McCain, or Palin CEO? None of them could coach the Washington Redskins either. Does that mean they're not capable of being president?

Both sides throw surrogates under the bus when there is a perceived gaff - I was irritated that the dems got all over Wes Clark when he suggested in an interview that being a POW wasn't in itself a qualification for being president. Everyone got all atwitter - god forbid, anyone say anything about McCain's military experience that isn't the robotic, "John McCain is a hero..." Since then, Fred Thompson said this at the republican convention, then added, "but, it does speak to character." Others have noted this as well. Ms. Fiorina, who I don't respect, was likely making a true statement, but she was off-message, which is a sin in the modern political world.

A head of a major Corp has the power to impose him will whenever he wishes. The President hasn't nearly the sam,e power. Inreality the president can't do anything signifigate without the approval and permisson of the leglislative. In favt they have the power to impose their will upon him much more than the reverse. The Democrats in the house and senate could have done much more if they really desired to. The truth is they were willing to sacrafice the best intrest of the country for their own personal gain. It wouldn't benifit them personally of financally if they would have stood up to the Republicans. They would rather act like they were outraged, than do something that opposed their own self intrest. The politicans in Washington hold their primary loyalty to each other and the money coming in that has made them all millionares. Money Talks, The People Walk.

It's very logical that a lifetime politician probably does not have the skill sets to run HP or GM or CitiBank. I don't know what the issue is here. Would you have Bill Clinton running GM? Not that ultimately, he couldn't do it, but it would take him too much time to learn the nuances of that corporation. If anyone can run a corporation, why are there so many headhunters making so much money looking for the right person to run a major corporation. Also, someone who can run GM may not be able to run HP. I find Carly's statement honest and true. I think most lifetime politicians would NOT be considered by headhunters when they are looking to place CEOs.

Wow, the pinheads (liberal media) don't seem to get it. No one ever wants the WHOLE story, just the words they like to hear.

Of course McCain or whichever canidate may not be able to run a coporation. Last time I looked, most corporations are run by a.. OMG!... a board! That means McCain would have to have several ppl help him run a corporation together. Maybe they could call it a cabinet...that has a nice ring to it.

Wow, for the first time in my life I'm NOT proud of my country (and I owe this feeling ALL to the idiots in American media).

Wow, the pinheads (liberal media) don't seem to get it. No one ever wants the WHOLE story, just the words they like to hear.

Of course McCain or whichever canidate may not be able to run a coporation. Last time I looked, most corporations are run by a.. OMG!... a board! That means McCain would have to have several ppl help him run a corporation together. Maybe they could call it a cabinet...that has a nice ring to it.

Wow, for the first time in my life I'm NOT proud of my country (and I owe this feeling ALL to the idiots in American media).

Few people have commented or recognized the fact that Barack Obama has run an outstanding campaign. From the message of change, to the elegant graphic identity, the activation of online giving and his highly effective staff that has remained "drama free" it would seem that his executive management ability is evident in the results.

While McCain struggles with staying on a basic message, staff turnover, the comments of advisers like Carly Florina, a highly questionable pick for VP and economic (cough) "gurus" like Phil Gramm -

it might be time for even the so-called "bubba" (ie patently racist) vote to decide on the content of character of both campaigns. Not the personal bias of appearances or sound bytes, but the campaign itself.

Which candidate has employed the better business strategy and tactics through his camapaign?

You make the call.

Now decide which business model and practices you want to apply to the business of The United States of America...

This whole subject amazes (and frustrates) me. Carly is absolutely right, running a for-profit multi-national corporation like HP and being President is and apples-oranges comparison. I would wager that no one on this entire thread could name a President in the past 50 years (maybe JFK) who could have successfully navigated a major corporations through the intracacies of a global economy. Let's be honest, presidents don't make economic policy. They are leaders,tasked with defending this country, setting the moral tone and keeping relationships with our allies. Do you don't want the President investing your 401K. Let's get off this nonsense. Anyway, people like Ms. Fiorina (HP), Charles Prince (Citi), and Steven Fuld (Lehman) have found the job of leading Fortuene 100 companies to be more than they could handle and they really know their financial ABCs.

Its very difficult to take Carly Fiorina seriously. She was booted from HP for tanking the company. While they were stinging from her bad decisions, she walked away with $21 Million. She's really an authority on a bad CEO? She's the example of a bad CEO! That should be obvious.

Bush hard at work on financial turmoil (headline on today's web although it describes 7 years of hard work)
If we had a visitor from space review the US economic policy of the last 100 years and compare it to the last 7, the visitor would come to the conclusion that Bush/Cheney/McCain/Phil Graham/failed HP exec were TRYING to plunder and defeat the US from within for the benefit of their masters in Saudi Arabia.

Obviously Carly Firoina herself does not have the skill set necessary to run a corporation since she got fired from Hewlett-Packard. It is also obvious that she should not have been in a position to speak on behalf of the McCain team.

There is a long sad history in this nation of Republicans confirming that they do not have the skill sets necessary to manage the complexity of the Federal government. The Enron scandal confirmed the dirty litted secret that Republicans are also not capable of running corporations. The current Wall Street debacle only confirms once again that Republicans are not very effective managers in times of crisis.

I agree with many of your comments about it being difficult to take Carly Fiorina serious when she was ousted from HP precisely because the HP board had lost confidence in her abilities to run the corporation. On the other hand, why are some of you complaining about the media spotlighting her remarks? What is so out of context about "Well, I don't think John McCain could run a major corporation, I don't think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don't think Joe Biden could run a major corporation." This was her remark, no matter how she tries to explain it away later.

/
Why is a businesswoman speaking for McCain anyway? Was it not McCain's camp's idea to have her speak at the RNC on his behalf? Fiorina is there precisely for the same reason that Palin is on the ticket: because she's a woman and McCain's camp believes that having women surrogates speak for him will sway some of the women voters. Unfortunately for him, McCain didn't "vet" Fiorina just as he didn't Palin, and now it is apparent that he was unaware of Fiorina's tendencies to "speak her mind", irrespective of who she takes down in the process. Yes, the media, with few exceptions, has deteriorated into a deliverer of gossip columns more than objective, unbiased news but this isn't the media talking: it's Fiorina.

Carly Fiorina former HP Executive sits ands promotes John McCain and his economic ideas and HP just announced layoffs of twenty five thousand. Hardly what one would describe as exceptional stewardship of amajor company. Todays problems have been sown and grown over the last twenty years and they are now crippling the U.S. economy. Carly Fiorina hardly represents what we want to see in the future if her past is any record of what we may see.
tommic856@verizon.net
tom mcmahon

Does Capehart expect his fellow black Obama to be able to run ANY business organization let alone a giant of the size of Hewlett Packard? Carly Fiorina paid with her job when her buyout of Compaq did not yield results fast enough. It is ironical that her successor at HP, Mark Hurd followed the very same policies and succeeded! That is life!

Yet, has Obama ever held any position of responsibility no matter how small? As Sarah Palin mocked "The work of a small town mayor is somewhat like that of a community organizer, except that it has ACTUAL RESPONSIBILITIES"!!! Has Obama ever displayed extraordinary courage under dire circumstances?

No responsibility, no achievements, no capabilities! Yet Obama wants to be President! Wow, some audacity!!!

HAAAAAA! Every now and then the truth slips past the McCain censors, this time from a big fish in the campaign.
I wonder how McCain staffers live with themselves, lying in bed late at night when the lights are out, knowing they are living and perpetrating a huge lie that could wreck this country in a critical period in its history..

She obviously does not know how to participate or run a political campaign. I actually wonder why she is really front and center in this election. Perhaps trying to get in on some public face time and angling for a later career move up the ladder.

"While it is obvious that this writer, like most at the Post, are shills for the Democratic Party, it will be interesting if he (they) comment on the stealing of Plain's private emails. But then why would he/they about ONLY Palin's private emails got stolen and not Obama's?

What we do and will hear is how she is not transparent because she tries to keep her private business private, even as Obama's campaign is willing to use illegally gathered private information to contunie their vicious personal attacks. I guess "only Republicans lie and cheat""

You miss the point--she used her so-called private e-mail for government business; she even cc'd her husband (you know, the unelected dude) on said government business using this private e-mail account. This was for the express purpose of being able to avoid handing over (possibly) incriminating e-mails on government servers if subpoenaed. In this, she was just taking lessons from GWB and Darth Cheney, who used the same technique to cover up any involvement in who-knows-how-many illegal and/or unethical things, with the compiance of that lap-dog of an Attorney General.

There are plenty of proven women leaders and execs however Fiorina isn't one of them. She was fired by HP for a lack of managerial skill and guess what? No major corporation has hired her since, somewhat tells you all you need to know about this self-promoter. There are plenty of individuals who slide successfully from govt. positions, the military as well as inexperienced family members into running successful corporations so it's not exactly brain surgery. Plus, practically every major decision made will be supported by some and opposed by others with all sides able to back up their view with good arguments. Running a business is not an exact science. If a company is suffering from a cash flow problem, potential remedies include: selling off unprofitable or less profitable units, step up marketing efforts to generate repeat sales from customers, partnering with a cash cow firm, aggressively seeking new investors, obtaining bank loans, obtaining a grant from the SBA, top executives forgoing large bonuses and a boatload of other possibilities. Again, it's not an exact science, it's very opinionated and just like in politics, corp execs tend to take credit for the good and distance themselves for being responsible for negative events. A couple of you knuckleheads even applied that the author is 'racist' for bashing white women. Two or three examples do not make a scientific sample. For those of you who 'think' this way, go and acquire an education and common sense. One more item, can Fiorina come up with any other response than implying someone is 'sexist' when Palin or any female politician or business person is criticize? This woman certainly plays the 'victim' card.